Yang Yi: If you hit your teammates, it’s also a matter of letters?

At 2:30 tomorrow morning, it will be taller and stronger in the FIBA ​​arena. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is like a god in Greek mythology, will lead a Greek team that is neither strong nor strong, and appears on the European Championship. Standing beside him are those familiar friends: Antetokounmpo, Alphabet brother, naturalized defender Taylor Dorsey, old forward Papanicolau, old defender Slokas, and head coach "Rockets' old player" Spanoris.

Looking at this list, you will know that it is not really important that he decided to play a few less warm-up matches before the start of the European Championship. We are all old partners, and we can be familiar with the cooperation, even if we are raising our strength for the main European Championship. So when the video of Antetokounmpo slapping his teammate Larenzakis (pictured below No. 5) was posted online, I was not worried about him at all. Those who question Antetokounmpo bullying their teammates do not understand Antetokounmpo, nor the Greek team. They are much more united than netizens. Sometimes they really can't beat others, but that has nothing to do with the team atmosphere, it's just a simple dish.

Sure enough, after leading the team to defeat Latvia in the warm-up match, teammates celebrating by the head of Antetokounmpo, and Larenzakis, who scored 14 points, played the most.

Judging from the name, the Greek team with Antetokounmpo has never been considered a dim starlight, but every time in the World Championship, it wins the weak team and passes the game, and loses the strong team and loses it, and in the end it seems that the letters are alone. The team won the championship in 2005 and won the medal again in 2009. Instead, they lacked decisive victory in international events as the rise of the most outstanding NBA players in their national history.

Objectively speaking, the FIBA ​​arena looks too unfriendly to Antetokounmpo. First of all, the FIBA ​​field is smaller than the NBA, which is more conducive to the opponent's attack; secondly, the FIBA ​​game did not have three seconds of defense, and the Greek team did not have space like Brooke Lopez to open up space for him, so no matter when the letter hits the basket, they will always face the dilemma of one-two or even one-two. FIBA ​​referees never give star players face. We have seen more than once the penalty for Antetokounmpo is obviously unfavorable on the FIBA ​​field.

But even with all kinds of adverse factors, he is one of the strongest players in the FIBA ​​game. At the Paris Olympics, he averaged 25.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, helping Greece break out of the group and eventually lost to Germany in the quarterfinals. At the last European Championship three years ago, Greece also lost to Germany. Antetokounmpo's data that year was 29.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists, and was the scoring champion in the tournament.

But we all know that if Greece wanted to be at the podium of an Intercontinental Competition in the Antetokounmpo era, such performance would not be enough. Moreover, this competition is likely to be the last chance for this group of Greek players - Karasis has withdrawn from the Greek national team, and Papanicolau and Slokas are also 35 years old. Without these experienced veterans, Greece will be more difficult to compete with the world's powers.

Yes, even though everyone agreed that he didn't get enough help in the national team, he should still cherish it because there will only be less in the future. Just like his situation with the Milwaukee Bucks, if the team wants to succeed, he needs to be a real superhero – like he did in the 2021 playoffs.

Yes, that episode seems to be back. But this time, it was a script written by Bucks general manager Joan Horst on purpose.

Join Horst may be one of the management I admire most in the NBA, but even so, when Damian Lillard collapsed on the court with his Achilles tendon, I thought he was finally going to lose his skills. Now it seems that I should apologize for underestimating him. Sorry, buddy, I am too shallow. I never thought that people could come up with such extraordinary ideas in desperate situations. If one person can get the other twice, we should believe more before questioning before he takes action for the third time.

The first time was that Antetokounmpo won the MVP in 2020. The Bucks won the best record in the Eastern Conference for the second consecutive season, but they lost to the Miami Heat in the second round. Someone who is interested began to doubt whether he would renew his contract with the team. Horst immediately traded the team's starting point guard Eric Bledsoe and five first-round draft picks in exchange for Holiday, which convinced Antetokounmpo to sign a super maximum salary for five years. The Bucks also won the second championship in team history under the leadership of the letter.

The second time was when the Bucks achieved the best record in the league again in 2023, but after losing to the eighth seed Miami Heat in the first round, Antetokounmpo said in an interview that he "will not be satisfied with a champion." Horst made another move, trading Holiday and three first-round draft picks in exchange for 75 superstar Lillard. Antetokounmpo is very satisfied and renews his contract with the team for two years.

The Bucks had poor performance, Antetokounmpo sent out a signal of doubt about the Bucks' future. Horst took decisive action and shocked the entire NBA with his earth-shaking heavy operation. This is the endless Milwaukee ring in the past five years. But when the 2024-25 season ended with a bitter end and Lillard suffered a major injury, Horst seemed to be a clever man. The Bucks look like there is no salary space to strengthen and no draft picks to trade, so it seems more likely than ever to lose Antetokounmpo.

Horst at this time made a move that no one expected: cut off Lillard and signed Miles Turner.

Even though nearly two months have passed, I still have to shout genius when I think about it. NBA history has never had such a bold operation, sacking a superstar and sharing his two-year, $113 million contract for the next five seasons. This means that until 2030, the team will be responsible for nearly $22.5 million in spending every year, just to free up enough salary space this summer to strengthen the company.

Usually this operation is only applicable to low-paying players, not maximum-paid players like Lillard. Of course, as the salary cap increases in the next few years, the proportion of this money in the salary cap will gradually decrease, and the pressure on the Bucks will also be reduced. But this is still a very risky act. Fortunately, Horst, who just renewed his contract with the team this year, is not afraid of taking risks. He can understand better than anyone else. If he cannot use a reinforcement to touch Antetokounmpo's heart this summer, when he leaves, it will be meaningless to have much salary space in the future. He is willing to give everything to leave Antetokounmpo.

Turner may be the most suitable team for Antetokounmpo in the league to introduce centers. He can take into account three-pointers and basket protection like Brooke Lopez, but he is much younger and more flexible than Daluo. He will not be targeted endlessly by pick-and-roll because he can only retreat. Horst only spent 107 million to sign him for four years; Super sixth man Bobby Portis renewed his contract with the team for 3 years and 44 million, and his value is once again far lower than that of a player of the same level. In order to make up for the team's lack of ball holders and athletic ability in the backcourt, Horst won Cole Anthony, who was bought out by the Grizzlies for only 5.7 million in two years and 5.7 million; then he successfully retained Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent, Torian Prince and Jericho Sims at a low price, maintaining the team's depth.

Kevin Porter Jr. (Cole Anthony)/Gary Trent/Kyle Kuzma/Antetokounmpo/Trenter. This lineup certainly doesn't look like a star-studded one, but it's a solid enough win. Questions about who starts with Porter Jr. and Cole Anthony, who starts with Gary Trent and A.J. Green, Kuzma plays 4 or 3 are all trivial matters, and these problems will naturally be solved in training camp a month later.

Generally speaking, it is difficult for such a team to go far enough in the playoffs, but considering the pattern of the Eastern Conference next season, we dare not make a conclusion about their future. Among the most competitive teams in the East, Pacers Halliburton was injured and Turner left, and was already seriously injured. The Celtics also entered their Gap Year. Among the remaining teams, whether it is the Knicks, Cavaliers, Magic, Pistons or Hawks, they all seem to be far from the four words "Eastern Overlord". In such a competitive environment, even a civilian team built around Antetokounmpo's single core can also find an opportunity to take advantage of.

Yes, the focus of this series of operations is not actually what to win, but what to make the letter think there is a chance to win. This is the biggest hope for the Bucks to leave Antetokounmpo: Antetokounmpo actually knows that this team has little chance of winning again, but on the one hand, he doesn’t have many next homes who can move in with his bag and compete for the championship directly. On the other hand, he is not willing to bear the public relations crisis that may be caused by leaving the team immediately. He really enjoys the feeling of being loved by everyone, and he really loves the city of Milwaukee. As long as he gives him some hope, he is willing to try it - rumors about the passing of superstars in small cities will never stop in this league. In fact, the Bucks have only won one series in the past four seasons, but Antetokounmpo still hasn't left, which has already shown a lot of problems.

If I could give him a little more sweetness, it would be even better. This is how Horst's script was written. After all, he really broke the bank this time. If the letters leave the team next time, he should never be able to make any tricks... right?

This team looks like we are familiar with again: use defensive vanguards and outside projection points to wrap up Antetokounmpo, try to make the opponent's game ugly, let Antetokounmpo turn into a superhero and eat as much ball rights as possible. This is an open conspiracy, because such a team is not embarrassing to lose. Just win a little bit, Antetokounmpo can get data, respect and love to the greatest extent. And if the luck is a little better, the character players he signed can take turns to flash in the playoffs, and the team will have a chance to magically win the next round of the series and look forward to the next round. In this process, as long as Antetokounmpo's love for Milwaukee instantly suppresses his desire for success, Horst can see the dawn of success left him.

Horst certainly knew he was dancing on the tip of the knife, but he had no choice because the future of the greatest player in the Bucks history is now in this way.